1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to modular furniture and more particularly pertains to a new modular furniture retaining system for maintaining a static relationship between multiple related pieces of furniture.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of modular furniture is known in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 3,973,800 describes a system using interconnecting hooking devices to secure modular pieces of furniture together. Another type of modular furniture is U.S. Pat. No. 3,635,521 having a folding modular construction providing a variety of configurations.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the need remains for a system that is superior in maintaining positioning of related pieces of furniture with respect to one another.
The present invention meets the needs presented above by using magnetic coupling assemblies to selectively couple related pieces of furniture together.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a new modular furniture retaining system that allows furniture to be quickly reconfigured without the use of tools.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new modular furniture retaining system that allows large groupings to be moved as smaller individual pieces thereby expanding the size of groupings which may be moved into a room through a doorway, hallway or around an obstruction.
To this end, the present invention generally comprises includes a first piece of modular furniture, a second piece of modular furniture, a first magnetic coupling assembly and a second magnetic coupling assembly. The first piece of modular furniture includes a first side and a second side. Similarly the second piece of modular furniture includes a third side and a fourth side. The first magnetic coupling assembly has a first polarity, and is positioned on the first side of the first piece of modular furniture. Similarly, the second magnetic coupling assembly has a second polarity complimentary to the first polarity of the first magnetic coupling assembly. The second magnetic coupling assembly is positioned to align with the first magnetic coupling assembly when the third side abuts the first side.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.